13 Workplace Rights for People With Type 1 Diabetes
“‘Workplace rights’ encompasses all the rights that a person with diabetes might have in the workplace,” says Jennifer Sherman, a staff attorney with the American Diabetes Association based in Washington, DC. “Getting a reasonable accommodation at work is one of the ways to get those rights, but there are many things that [people with diabetes] are protected in: hiring, firing, discipline, pay, promotion, job training, and fringe benefits.”
It’s up to you to advocate for yourself: “It’s the worker’s responsibility to ask for the accommodation. That request triggers an interactive process, which means that the individual with diabetes and the employer have to work together to come up with ways that they can do their job. And the employer has to give primary consideration to the preference of the person with diabetes on what that reasonable accommodation is,” says Sherman.
1. Testing and Treatment Breaks
Type 1 diabetes means you have an absolute necessity to tend regularly to your condition while you’re on the clock. Whether it’s testing your blood sugar, administering a dose of insulin, or having a snack to treat low blood sugar, you can request additional breaks from work to perform these vital checks. These breaks can be random or scheduled, depending on what you and your employer agree to.
2. The Right to Treat Yourself Privately or Publicly
Some people with diabetes don’t want to administer insulin or perform fingerstick tests in front of coworkers. If you prefer to test and treat your diabetes in private, you can request a private space for doing it.
“I think checking blood glucose levels in that private space if they want, or wherever they want, is a great example of an accommodation for people with diabetes,” Sherman says.
On the other hand, if you would find it more convenient to test and treat your diabetes at your desk or in your work area, you can request an accommodation to do this, even if it would normally go against your employer’s rules.
3. Access to Hypo Snacks and Beverages
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can be dangerous without prompt treatment. If you work far from your locker room or storage area, it may be necessary to carry your glucose gels, candy, juice boxes, or other hypo snacks with you.
In cases where employers don’t allow employees to keep snacks or beverages in their work environment, you can request an accommodation to do so.
4. Access to Refrigeration
Sherman says that you can also negotiate for backup supplies like a cooler and ice pack. It may be a good idea, she says, to “keep backup supplies on you in case the technology that you’re using fails and you don’t have a way to replace that.”
5. Extra Breaks for Blood Sugar Fluctuations
Both high and low blood sugar involve symptoms that can make your job performance suffer, and it may be in everyone’s interest to let you take a little time away from your responsibilities to recover.
If you sometimes need extra time to recover, you can request extra break time to go to the bathroom or to rest until your glucose levels return to normal.
6. Confidentiality
7. Access to Your Devices
“Something we’re seeing more and more across various settings in a lot of jobs is that you’re not allowed to be on your cellphone,” says Sherman. “But a lot of people use their cellphone to check what their CGM is reading or what’s going on with their pump, so permission to have that cellphone on you for those tasks is important.”
8. Excused Absences and Unpaid Leave for Diabetes Care
People with diabetes may need more frequent medical care than the average employee. If you have regular checkups with physicians, diabetes nurse educators, and other healthcare professionals, you can request an accommodation for additional excused absences to attend medical appointments.
9. Privacy During the Interview Process
10. Assistive Devices for Complications
Sherman says that if your diabetes causes a complication like the eye condition retinopathy, you can request accommodations like large computer monitors, better lighting, or other changes that allow you to see better to perform your work. Likewise, if diabetes causes neuropathy in the legs and feet, you can request permission to use a chair or stool, even in an environment that typically requires standing, such as a grocery store checkout station.
11. Time and Equipment for Movement
Many people with type 1 diabetes engage in post-meal movement as a glucose management tool, and you can request extra time to take a walk after meal breaks. You could even ask for a treadmill to use in your workspace for this purpose, Sherman says.
“It’s important to note that these reasonable accommodations can happen if you’re a remote worker, too. It doesn’t have to be that you’re physically at the office,” she says.
12. Task Reallocation or Job Reassignment
If your type 1 diabetes and associated complications have made it difficult for you to fulfill your job responsibilities, you still have options.
If you can still perform your core job functions but struggle with marginal tasks, your employer could accommodate this by reallocating those tasks to another employee. An example of this might be a facilities maintenance worker who had a lower limb amputated due to T1D: Perhaps they can still perform their primary daily job functions, but have difficulty climbing a ladder to change lightbulbs a few times a year.
13. Permission to Possess, Use, and Dispose of Syringes
The Takeaway
- Type 1 diabetes is officially considered a disability in the United States. Employers must make reasonable accommodations for their employees with the condition.
- Potentially helpful workplace adjustments might include additional breaks for blood sugar testing and treatment, continuous access to refrigeration and medical devices, longer breaks for meals, and a guarantee of confidentiality if you prefer to keep your medical status private.
- Be prepared to advocate for yourself: You will probably have to negotiate with your employer to secure new accommodations to help you manage your diabetes more effectively while on the job.
Resources We Trust
- Cleveland Clinic: What Is Disability Etiquette? 10 Tips to Make Your Interactions More Respectful
- American Diabetes Association: Safe at School
- American Civil Liberties Union: Disability Rights
- U.S. Department of Labor: Employment Laws: Disability & Discrimination
- Diabetes Link: Learning to Embrace the Word “Disabled”
- Is Diabetes Considered a Disability? American Diabetes Association.
- Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Division.
- Your Accommodation Request Was Denied. Job Accommodation Network.
- Insulin Storage and Syringe Safety. American Diabetes Association.
- Your Brain and Diabetes. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 16, 2024.
- Severe Hypoglycemia. Endocrine Society. February 18, 2022.
- Diabetes in the Workplace and the ADA. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Division.
- Common Reasonable Accommodations for Individuals with Diabetes. American Diabetes Association.
- Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Division.
Anna L. Goldman, MD
Medical Reviewer
Anna L. Goldman, MD, is a board-certified endocrinologist. She teaches first year medical students at Harvard Medical School and practices general endocrinology in Boston.
Dr. Goldman attended college at Wesleyan University and then completed her residency at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where she was also a chief resident. She moved to Boston to do her fellowship in endocrinology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She joined the faculty after graduation and served as the associate program director for the fellowship program for a number of years.
Elizabeth Hanes, BSN, RN
Author
Elizabeth Hanes, BSN, RN, is an award-winning freelance health journalist, content writer, and registered nurse with more than two decades of experience in healthcare and medical publishing. Her work focuses on consumer health, chronic disease, aging, caregiving, preventive care, and evidence-based wellness, with an emphasis on accuracy, nuance, and editorial integrity.
With dual degrees in creative writing and nursing, Elizabeth bridges clinical insight with compelling storytelling, producing work that informs patients, supports clinicians, and elevates health brands. Her portfolio includes consumer-facing content, expert-driven features, white papers, thought leadership, and strategic SEO health content for health systems, digital health platforms, and national publishers.
Before turning to full-time writing, she practiced perioperative and clinic nursing, giving her real-world clinical perspective that enhances the credibility and usefulness of her work.
Outside her writing practice, she teaches and mentors healthcare professionals in health writing, helping others craft clear, high-impact health communications.